Purpose of Interviews

There are several interview techniques. One of which is purpose. A purpose is the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists, in this case is interviews .Without a purpose there’s no meaning to an interview.

 Most interviews happen for one of the following reasons:

Research:   

Research interviews are mostly used to get the interviewee's knowledge about the topic.  research interviews can often be seen in documentaries as having a key interview with someone knowledgeable about a subject, this is a key to the understanding to the audience . This is a form of research because the presenter purpose is to research more about the certain topic being discussed.  

Understanding:  

These sorts of interviews are constructed to increase understanding of an issue, almost like sympathy awareness or tolerance, highly similar to research interviews.  The majority of understating interviews are Hard News which main purpose would most likely be politician’s interviews. Understanding can be used for celebrity interviews such Beyonce interview with Oprah on the ‘Oprah Show’ The purpose for this interview was to inform and understand the lifestyle Beyoncé goes through on her everyday life, which is completely different from the majority of people in general because she is a well know famous celebrity who career continuously becomes higher each year, so she lives a very glamorous hectic life which consist many trips around the world for her touring she does yearly. This gives the public a greater understanding on her lifestyle. This would also fall under the promotional category.

Inform:  

These interviews take place in order to share information with the general public.  Some information interviews can be emotional because the interviewee can reveal certain matter that the public was unaware of before. It can educational which can encourage people to watch as they are learning something new.  In Informative interviews, it could be a celebrity talking about their latest album or personal life, giving the public recent information’s about them. 

Interpretive:
 

 These interviews are there to help express or explain an opinion. It gives immense support for interviewee to be able to get their opinions across and explain themselves in order for people to understand their point of view on the topic. Politicians often take part in interpretive interviews, as the public are interested in knowing why they make such decisions they make, often controversial and how it can benefit the general public. 

Emotional:  
  
The main purpose for an emotional interview is to get the audience to see the story from someone else’s point of view. Emotional interviews are extremely personal, so the questions asked are thoroughly picked carefully in order not to offend the interviewee or get them even more upset then there already are, so  the questions  are asked in way that builds rapport so they can make the interviewee feel at ease and comfortable to carry on talking about the subject.  With emotional interview you have to have patience because the interviewee will take time answering the questions as they hold so much emotions and it’s a very touching subject for them. It is wise to follow the interview structure so that you build the interviewee’s confidence before asking the key questions – what you really want to find out. The subject that would be used for the base of the questions in emotional interviews is those that affected the interviewee’s life and that the audience can relate to, so empathy is felt.

Ronan Keating on Piers Morgan life stories
The purpose for this interview will be considered as emotional because of the spoken topic , it's a very touching subject for Ronan Keating because Piers Morgan asks him about the death of one his band member who he was very closed to. Ronan Keating facial expressions and the sound of his voice tells us immediately the emotions he must be feeling at the moment of time.  The interview makes the audience feel a lot closer to Ronan Keating because he is poring all he emotions out in public with no shame. This can also fall in the category of understanding, as we get to understand the pains he went through during the recent time of his death and how he coped all this time. This interview can be considered emotional as it get the audience feel some kind of sympathy on the topic being discussed.